> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://jatan.space/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Reading menu: Apollo landing sites (and candidates) and their geology - URL: https://jatan.space/stories-of-apollo-landing-sites/ - Published: 2019-07-22T06:55:05.000Z - Updated: 2024-07-18T09:19:16.000Z - Author: Jatan Mehta Here is a curated collection of my articles and blog posts on several Apollo landing sites, site candidates, and their geology. ![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2f76d008e9-a944-4dc9-b1c4-e762d1d398a0_1920x1080-jpeg.jpg) Landing sites on the Moon for Apollo missions. [Credit: NASA / Ernie Wright](https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4731) #### [Places on the Moon explored by Apollo astronauts and what we learnt from them](https://jatan.space/apollo-landing-sites-overview/) --- #### [Apollo 11 landing site – The Sea of Tranquility](https://jatan.space/apollo-11-landing-site/) --- Then there's the Apollo 15 landing site near Hadley rille which revealed the Moon's dramatic volcanic past. #### [Meandering rille near Apollo 15 landing site](https://jatan.space/meandering-rille-near-apollo-15-landing-site/) It is also from Apollo 15 rock samples that we know the Moon's large basins formed several hundred million years before the volcanic eruptions filled them with lava. --- Apollo 17 astronauts Jack Schmitt and Eugene Cernan landed in the [Taurus-Littrow valley](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taurus%E2%80%93Littrow). Remarkably, they sampled ejected material from the impact that created [Tycho crater](https://jatan.space/tycho-crater-mountain/), the material landing on their site from more than a thousand kilometers away! #### [Sampling material from a thousand kilometers away](https://jatan.space/landslide-on-the-moon/) They also saw a rolled-down boulder during their exploration. Tracing its source and studying the boulder allowed to infer composition of the rocks present up-slope on the site! --- Apollo 17 had another candidate landing site, the lava filled [Gassendi crater](https://jatan.space/lava-filled-gassendi-crater/). The major scientific goal would be to sample the ancient lunar rock materials of the central mountains in the crater. Alas, engineering constraints, particularly lack of high-resolution imagery, meant that a successful landing would've been difficult and the site was dropped in favor of Taurus-Littrow valley. #### [Lava filled Gassendi crater](https://jatan.space/lava-filled-gassendi-crater/) The spectacular craters of Aristarchus and Copernicus, hosting central mountains as well, were candidates for the [now-cancelled](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canceled%5FApollo%5Fmissions) Apollo 17+ landing missions. #### [Glorious Aristarchus!](https://jatan.space/glorious-aristarchus/) #### [A peak inside the Moon with Copernicus](https://jatan.space/copernicus-crater-moon-mountains/) Future Apollo missions were to land in more elusive sites, like a rare crater type found at [Hyginus caldera](https://jatan.space/the-collapsed-crater-of-hyginus/). The aim was to reveal important information about the dynamics of collapse features and also get insights into irregular features like [Ina](https://jatan.space/ina-irregular-mare-patch/). #### [The collapsed crater of Hyginus](https://jatan.space/the-collapsed-crater-of-hyginus/) --- The Apollo missions not only enabled us to see a dynamic Moon but also transformed our understanding of its origin: #### [How the Apollo missions transformed our understanding of the Moon’s origin](https://jatan.space/apollo-moon-origin/) --- You can [explore all Apollo landing sites](https://www.google.com/moon/#lat=1.446801&lon=0.304687&zoom=3) on Google Moon. [![](https://jatan.space/content/images/2024/02/https-3a-2f-2fbucketeer-e05bbc84-baa3-437e-9518-adb32be77984-s3-amazonaws-com-2fpublic-2fimages-2fdae25b8d-2e48-4ca1-be1d-0fc852f4019c_736x735-jpeg.jpg)](https://www.google.com/moon/#lat=1.446801&lon=0.304687&zoom=3) [EXPLORE ON A MAP](https://www.google.com/moon/#lat=1.446801&lon=0.304687&zoom=3)